Mother of 'I Am Bomb, Jihad' T-Shirt Boy Appears in French Court

The mother and uncle of a three-year-old boy named Jihad appeared in French court Wednesday for sending him to school in "I am a bomb" shirt

By Rachel Hirshfeld

First Publish: 12/20/2012, 12:44 AM

Child at Hamas rally in Gaza

Israel news photo: Flash 90

The mother and uncle of a three-year-old boy named Jihad, who was born on September 11, appeared in a French court Wednesday for sending him to school in a shirt bearing the words "I am a bomb".

The long-sleeved T-shirt also had the words "Jihad, born on September 11" written on the back when he turned up at his nursery school in the southern town of Sorgues near Avignon on September 25, AFP reported.

The boy’s mother, who dressed her son, and his uncle, who bought the shirt, are both being charged with condoning a crime over the alleged reference to the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York’s twin towers in 2001.

The judge at the court in Avignon agreed to a request by their lawyer for the trial to be postponed until next year for technical reasons and set March 6 as the date for the next hearing, according to AFP.

The boy’s teacher reportedly alerted authorities after he turned up in the offending top and a few days later the town mayor, Thierry Lagneau of the conservative UMP party, asked prosecutors to investigate.

"I condemn the attitude of the parents who shamefully took advantage of the person and the age of this child to convey a political message," Lagneau said.

The mother and uncle of the boy, both of whom were astonished by the reactions to the shirt, were not known Islamists, prosecutors said, according to AFP.